Hyundai Exec Claims US Tax Dollars Fund Tesla Superchargers

Korean auto maker Hyundai’s U.S. head of product planning has accused leading American electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors of using taxpayer money in the construction of its network of high-speed Supercharger stations.

The comments came during a discussion about how hydrogen fueling infrastructure should be established.

It’s worth noting that Tesla paid back the entirety of its 2010 $465-million U.S. Department of Energy loan more than a year ago, and nine years before it was due to become the only alternative energy vehicle manufacturer out of Ford, Nissan and others to do so. (RELATED: Tesla Electrifies The Auto Market)

“I am furious at any allegation that any public money was spent on the Supercharger network,” Tesla Vice President of Business Development Diarmuid O’Connell said in response to the comment. “Those sites have been paid for entirely by Tesla Motors, which continues to spend money in expanding the network.”

Hyundai, Toyota and Honda are all working on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles prototypes, all of which will require a billion-dollar infrastructure to fuel them — money which O’Brien, ironically, hopes will come from state governments.

“For us, the big breakthrough will come when other states start investing in infrastructure,” O’Brien said.